Some things to read while searching for respect.
Sorry this morning's Mug is a little late: I was at last night's game and got home shortly after 1:30, so my normal 6:15 alarm was out of the question. The Mug will be back at its regular time tomorrow.
It's possible I just have terrible luck. Including yesterday's game, I've attended three this season, and now I've seen Corey Patterson start in center field and lead off twice. Joe Posnanski wonders if batting Patterson leadoff on back-to-back days is a felony. Walkoff Walk has a shirt we may all need to own. Patterson went 0-for-3 with three swinging strikeouts, and still has yet to hit the ball out of the infield as a Brewer. By the way, the Brewers are now 0-3 in games I've attended this season.
Last night's game wasn't big on results but it was high in excitement. Manny Parra left the game after just one inning with neck spasms, and the Brewers ended up tying a franchise record by using eight pitchers in a nine-inning game. Carlos Villanueva pitched three brilliant innings in relief, prompting Casa de Machado to wonder if the Brewers were better off without Manny. It was also the first time I'd seen Trevor Hoffman pitch in person, and no matter what Joe Posnanski says, that's cooler than seeing REO Speedwagon at the State Fair.
With that said, it ended up being just another loss for the Brewers, who now need to win their last 24 games to match last season's 90-72 mark.
Corey Hart was activated from the DL yesterday (and added to the roster along with Mat Gamel), but was unable to start due to "heavy legs" after playing the full game in New Orleans the night before. Hart will likely start today, freeing up Jody Gerut to take over in center. I'm not sure what I'll do if Corey Patterson gets a third consecutive start.
As I mentioned above, Mat Gamel was recalled yesterday, but don't expect to see much of him in the remaining weeks. Casey McGehee will see most of the time at third down the stretch, and while he's probably earned that right, it'd be nice for the Brewers to get Gamel some ABs in an effort to evaluate his ability to contribute next season.
It appears the Brewers won't call up a third catcher after all. Adam McCalvy says the Brewers never had plans to call up Angel Salome, and doesn't feel like he's part of the plans for 2010, either. Every day I feel like we get a little closer to another 120+ starts and sub-.300 slugging percentage for Jason Kendall.
Michael Hunt talked to Doug Melvin, who says he's going to be more aggressive in his pursuit of pitching this offseason. Normally that's the type of information Melvin would keep close to the vest, so I wonder if he's starting to feel internal or external pressure.
Did the Brewers make a mistake by releasing Jesus Colome earlier this week? Zach Sanders of Baseball Digest Daily thinks someone will be happy they gave him a shot in 2010.
Mike Cameron still isn't expected back until Friday at the earliest, but he'll have some work to do when he gets back: Baseball Reference's leaderboards have him 20 behind Jim Thome for most strikeouts this decade. Jason Kendall has a 17 plunk lead on Jason Giambi for most '00 HBPs.
In the minors:
Nationals: Designated reliever Jorge Sosa for assignment.
Tigers: Closer Fernando Rodney has been suspended for three games for firing a baseball into the press box over the weekend.
Dusty Baker gets a lot of blame for destroying the careers of young pitchers, but does Nationals interim manager Jim Riggleman deserve it too? Fire Jim Bowden has a look at Riggleman's history with Geremi Gonzalez and Kerry Wood, and more recent statements and actions with Jordan Zimmermann and Craig Stammen.
This is the kind of buy-low opportunity the Brewers should be all over, if it becomes available: DRaysBay thinks the Rays might non-tender catcher Dioner Navarro this offseason. Navarro is having a terrible year at the plate in 2009, but was an All Star in 2008 and is still young enough to bounce back.
As if the Blue Jays didn't have enough problems with baseball's toughest division, financial issues and inept management, new aviation rules have left them seeking alternatives to their charter plane service, and forced them to find alternative transportation to a recent series in Detroit.
On this date in 1992, Robin Yount went 1-for-5 with a single, the 3000th hit of his major league career. On this date in 2007, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun went back-to-back-to-back to start the game against the Reds, and the Brewers won 10-5.
Happy birthday today to Todd Coffey, who turns 29, and happy belated birthday to Logan Schafer, who won the Florida State League batting title this season and turned 23 yesterday.
Drink up.
Sorry this morning's Mug is a little late: I was at last night's game and got home shortly after 1:30, so my normal 6:15 alarm was out of the question. The Mug will be back at its regular time tomorrow.
It's possible I just have terrible luck. Including yesterday's game, I've attended three this season, and now I've seen Corey Patterson start in center field and lead off twice. Joe Posnanski wonders if batting Patterson leadoff on back-to-back days is a felony. Walkoff Walk has a shirt we may all need to own. Patterson went 0-for-3 with three swinging strikeouts, and still has yet to hit the ball out of the infield as a Brewer. By the way, the Brewers are now 0-3 in games I've attended this season.
Last night's game wasn't big on results but it was high in excitement. Manny Parra left the game after just one inning with neck spasms, and the Brewers ended up tying a franchise record by using eight pitchers in a nine-inning game. Carlos Villanueva pitched three brilliant innings in relief, prompting Casa de Machado to wonder if the Brewers were better off without Manny. It was also the first time I'd seen Trevor Hoffman pitch in person, and no matter what Joe Posnanski says, that's cooler than seeing REO Speedwagon at the State Fair.
With that said, it ended up being just another loss for the Brewers, who now need to win their last 24 games to match last season's 90-72 mark.
Corey Hart was activated from the DL yesterday (and added to the roster along with Mat Gamel), but was unable to start due to "heavy legs" after playing the full game in New Orleans the night before. Hart will likely start today, freeing up Jody Gerut to take over in center. I'm not sure what I'll do if Corey Patterson gets a third consecutive start.
As I mentioned above, Mat Gamel was recalled yesterday, but don't expect to see much of him in the remaining weeks. Casey McGehee will see most of the time at third down the stretch, and while he's probably earned that right, it'd be nice for the Brewers to get Gamel some ABs in an effort to evaluate his ability to contribute next season.
It appears the Brewers won't call up a third catcher after all. Adam McCalvy says the Brewers never had plans to call up Angel Salome, and doesn't feel like he's part of the plans for 2010, either. Every day I feel like we get a little closer to another 120+ starts and sub-.300 slugging percentage for Jason Kendall.
Michael Hunt talked to Doug Melvin, who says he's going to be more aggressive in his pursuit of pitching this offseason. Normally that's the type of information Melvin would keep close to the vest, so I wonder if he's starting to feel internal or external pressure.
Did the Brewers make a mistake by releasing Jesus Colome earlier this week? Zach Sanders of Baseball Digest Daily thinks someone will be happy they gave him a shot in 2010.
Mike Cameron still isn't expected back until Friday at the earliest, but he'll have some work to do when he gets back: Baseball Reference's leaderboards have him 20 behind Jim Thome for most strikeouts this decade. Jason Kendall has a 17 plunk lead on Jason Giambi for most '00 HBPs.
In the minors:
- Brevard County finished the season with the fifth best record in all of minor league baseball, but also canceled 13 games this season due to rainouts or wet grounds. With that said, they're down 1-0 in the first round of the FSL playoffs and face an elimination game tonight. Wisconsin finished 58-81, winning just one of their last ten games to finish tied for the ninth worst minor league record.
- Josh Butler is the prospect of the week over at Between the Green Pillars.
Nationals: Designated reliever Jorge Sosa for assignment.
Tigers: Closer Fernando Rodney has been suspended for three games for firing a baseball into the press box over the weekend.
Dusty Baker gets a lot of blame for destroying the careers of young pitchers, but does Nationals interim manager Jim Riggleman deserve it too? Fire Jim Bowden has a look at Riggleman's history with Geremi Gonzalez and Kerry Wood, and more recent statements and actions with Jordan Zimmermann and Craig Stammen.
This is the kind of buy-low opportunity the Brewers should be all over, if it becomes available: DRaysBay thinks the Rays might non-tender catcher Dioner Navarro this offseason. Navarro is having a terrible year at the plate in 2009, but was an All Star in 2008 and is still young enough to bounce back.
As if the Blue Jays didn't have enough problems with baseball's toughest division, financial issues and inept management, new aviation rules have left them seeking alternatives to their charter plane service, and forced them to find alternative transportation to a recent series in Detroit.
On this date in 1992, Robin Yount went 1-for-5 with a single, the 3000th hit of his major league career. On this date in 2007, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun went back-to-back-to-back to start the game against the Reds, and the Brewers won 10-5.
Happy birthday today to Todd Coffey, who turns 29, and happy belated birthday to Logan Schafer, who won the Florida State League batting title this season and turned 23 yesterday.
Drink up.